Seven people were killed in a car bomb near a mosque in Kabul: Ministry

A Taliban fighter stood guard on the road after the explosion during Friday prayers.

• The blast occurred minutes after the end of Friday prayers in front of the Wazir Akbar Khan Mosque.
• At least seven people were confirmed dead, and another 41 were injured.
• No group claimed responsibility for the attack.

A car packed with explosives exploded near a mosque frequented by the Taliban in the Afghan capital, killing at least seven people minutes after Friday prayers ended, the interior ministry said.

The blast occurred in front of the Wazir Akbar Khan mosque, near the fortified former Green Zone, which housed several embassies before the Taliban seized power last August.

Now the mosque is often visited by high-ranking Taliban commanders and fighters.

Interior Ministry spokesman Abdul Nafi Thakor told AFP that at least seven people were killed and 41 others were injured, including children.

“The blast occurred when worshipers were heading home,” Thakor said, adding that the explosives were planted in a vehicle.

Unverified pictures posted on social media showed a damaged car engulfed in flames on a road near a mosque.

So far, no group has claimed responsibility for the attack.

In a tweet, the United Nations Assistance Mission in Afghanistan (UNAMA) called Friday’s blast a “bitter reminder of the ongoing insecurity and terrorist activities in Afghanistan.”

In 2020, a bomb tore through the same mosque, killing its imam.

Although the overall level of violence in Afghanistan has decreased significantly since the war ended with the return of the Taliban to power, there have been regular bombings in Kabul and other cities.

Several mosques and clergy have been targeted in these attacks, some of which have been claimed by the Islamic State jihadist group.

Two Russian embassy staff were killed in a suicide bombing outside its offices earlier this month, the latest attack in the capital claimed by the group.